View full sizeChief Joseph and Ockley Green schools will merge to become one neighborhood school under the latest plan for buildings in the Jefferson High School cluster. While some are optimistic about the plan, others are still wary to call it a victory.Nicole Dungca/The Oregonian

Tamberlee Tarver still isn't relieved.

When Portland Public Schools officials proposed shutting her children's school, Woodlawn, she joined hundreds of others who rallied against building closures.

For some, the latest plan is a sign the district is truly considering community input and focusing on the big picture before making drastic changes. They are encouraged the district didn't force through more disruption before considering other options and listening to parents.

But for others, like Tarver, the district's history of school closures and constant attempts at reform for the area makes them wary of claiming victory yet. Some feel jilted by a district that, they say, rarely listened to community concerns before the area gentrified. And they worry that the district is just delaying another painful closure process down the road.

"In a matter of a couple of years, I'm pretty sure it's probably going to be the same situation," Tarver said.

Calls for equity

The Jefferson High School cluster, which lies in what has traditionally been the heart of Portland's African American community, has long been a battleground for equity in education. For decades, African American community activists have pushed the district for quality schools in the area, and many have criticized the district's transfer policy that has allowed students to flee the cluster.

Though the area has gentrified, the majority of the cluster's elementary schools still have more students of color than white students. When the district released proposals for closing Woodlawn or Vernon -- where students of color are still in the majority -- activists and parents opposed the moves as disproportionately hurting minorities and low-income students.

It's an issue that has reverberated across the country, as community activists in Chicago, Philadelphia and several other cities ask for a moratorium on school closures.

In the Jefferson cluster, officials sought to address problems with both small and overcrowded schools. Under-enrolled schools like Ockley Green and King -- K-8 schools with about 240 and 310 students, respectively -- need extra funding to provide enough staffing. Meanwhile, overcrowded schools like Faubion K-8, with about 450 students, and the growing Chief Joseph K-5, with about 460 students, are pushing capacity.

Community members resisted big changes from the start. Just months before the process started, the board had voted to close two schools amid budgetary cuts, and many still felt stung by the move.

"It was pretty clear to us going into that process that we knew how the district was operating ... that they were going to make decisions without input," said Nick Fenger, a King parent.

Instead of closing schools, parents and activists argued, the district should look at systemic issues, such as the transfer policy. Data shows about 52 percent of white students leave the cluster's neighborhood schools, which is higher than the rate of white students in other clusters who do the same.

After weeks of testimony and growing opposition on the board to immediate closures, Smith essentially followed the advice. Smith has said she realizes the complexities of the issues facing the cluster, including some of the responsibility the district carries. "It's race, it's class, it's historic," she said at a recent board meeting.

She proposed all buildings in the cluster stay open while the district evaluates the transfer policy and boundary realignment. She sought to make changes to buildings with the most pressing issues: Chief Joseph, in danger of overcrowding next year, and Ockley Green, the district's smallest K-8.

The proposal will force Ockley Green to close its magnet program, allowing students to stay in the building or go back to either their neighborhood school or King School, another underenrolled cluster school.

The move would allow the neighborhood schools to grow enrollments, Smith said, and "harness the energy" from parents who had joined together. By dealing with the boundary changes and transfer policy first, officials said they could have a better long-term plan that looks at equity.

Mixed feelings

Officials admit the proposal leaves a number of issues unresolved. It fixes capacity problems at Chief Joseph and Ockley Green, but it fails to address one of the reasons officials pushed for the changes: low enrollment in the middle school grades that has left numerous buildings with fewer elective or support options for older students.

Board member Bobbie Regan said the proposal is responsive, but she knows more change will be necessary down the line. The district is facing a possible $17 million in cuts next year, which means resources to subsidize smaller school will be stretched even thinner.

The proposal "doesn't seem terribly satisfying for me and we have a lot of gray areas still, but that's the way it is," Regan said.

Judy Brennan, director of transfer and enrollment, said the district would closely monitor schools to recognize any drastic changes.

"We're watching programs grow and working with the community to keep that growth active and robust," Brennan said.

That push for stability has some, like Vernon grandparent Teletha Benjamin, optimistic. She said the process has helped community unity, which she believes will strengthen the cluster.

"What really struck me was the acknowledgment that people felt bolstered by learning that other people felt the way they felt and that they were ready to take action," she said.

Fenger, the King parent, said board members, in particular, seemed to respond to concerns. "I felt like the board had moved into a way of really listening to (community members) and really paying attention to equity," he said.

The reactions from community members range. Sharon Maxwell, a longtime Northeast Portland resident, said she thought the district's past in the cluster showed double standards. And Ockley Green grandparent Carollynn Smith said some parents still feel powerless.

Tarver said she won't be satisfied until the district offers concrete solutions to raising achievement. "It's not just shifting kids from building to building and closing buildings," she said. "That, in itself, is going to diminish their ability to achieve because of the transitions and disruptions."

Rachael Banks, another Woodlawn parent, feels encouraged by the plan but says officials need to follow through on looking closely at the transfer policy and leadership issues.

"I guess I just have too much historical perspective to say overnight, this is going to change the trajectory," she said. "It took many actions, decisions and policies to get here, and it'll take many to change it, as well."